Catch committee

Nease High School Panthers SR Rick Taylor gains yards at the Nease vs Ridgevew football game at Nease High School last Friday night. Ridgeview SS Matt Hernandez faled to stop the TD.

Nease Won the Game 59 to 0.

By Gary Wilcox, Morris News Service Thirteen games into his high school career, Nease quarterback Tim Tebow is on target to scribble his name all over every Florida high school passing record.

But all those footballs thrown have to be caught by somebody, and the Panthers have a no-name group of receivers who are making the air game go.

Without a big-time playmaker like Will Oakley this season, the Panthers are overwhelming opponents' secondaries in 2004 with up to 10 capable pass catchers.

With quantity and quality at the receiver position, Tebow has carved up four opponents this season for 1,317 yards and 20 scores.

"No matter who you put in, they're going to catch the ball and make plays," said senior receiver Ben Franco, who has 13 catches for 196 yards.

With Oakley, who signed with Alabama in February, and fellow seniors Jon Pettry and Adam Hedrick, last year's Nease team had one of the best passing attacks in the state.

But this year's group is certain to make the 2003 offensive numbers look pedestrian.

"I think we're better four across than we were last year," receivers coach Ken Fasnaught Jr. said.

click photo to enlarge

Former Nease Receiver Will Oakley, now at Alabama, set a Northeast Florida receiving record with 1,283 yards in 2003.

File Photo

He's right. The Panthers' depth at receiver is amazing for a program that just went to a predominant passing attack last year. Eight different players have caught touchdown passes for an offense that has scored an average of 50 points a game.

Ryan Ellis has crossed the goal line seven times this year with a team-high 22 receptions for 465 yards. He had one of the best plays of the season last week against University Christian when he beat single coverage and hauled in a 77-yard rainbow from Tebow for a second-quarter touchdown.

Those are the kind of plays Oakley used to make last year, and Ellis said he dreamed about being in that position. Ellis is just one of the many Nease players taking advantage of chances to make big plays.

"It's more than exciting being in this offense," said receiver Rick Taylor, who had a 79-yard reception against UC. "Anybody at any time can break one."

Although Fasnaught said he always thought this year's group would be special, it took some time before it was evident on the field.

The players pointed to the summer spent at football camps at Alabama and Valdosta State as the starting point for greatness.

"At first, we thought we were a work in progress," Ellis said. "Then over the summer, we went to a couple of camps and really showed our stuff. About halfway through the summer, we started really believing that we were it. We were the next receiving corps at Nease."

By the time the Panthers were ready to put on the uniforms, the rookie receivers felt more confident than green.

"About two weeks before our first game, we started pulling it together," Franco said.

When the season did start against Fernandina Beach, the Panthers' passing game was in midseason form, totaling 479 yards through the air.

Part of that is Tebow's brilliance. Part of it is the offensive scheme. And part of it is the receivers doing things the right way and not dropping balls.

"Our offense is open enough for them to read it and know where to go," Fasnaught said. "Those guys learned how to adjust and break off their routes and find an opening in the zone somewhere to get open.

"If they get pressed, they know how to beat it, pick it. They're smart guys. They don't just run down 10 yards and turn and look for the ball."

There's a lot of incentive to running a good route and getting a pass. With four- and five-wide sets, receivers often find themselves locked up with just one defender.

"(Opponents) can never focus their coverage on one guy," Fasnaught said. "If they beat their guy, they know they get to go to the house."

With an offense running so well that five touchdowns before halftime is always a possibility, Nease is loaded with confidence heading into Friday's District 6-3A clash with St. Augustine.

"If you look at all of our drives, nobody stops us," Franco said. "We stop ourselves by dropping the ball, not executing or missing blocks."

Nease hasn't faced a team like SAHS yet, though. On the other hand, it wasn't like SAHS slowed down the Nease attack last year in winning 52-35.

Every Nease receiver is dying to get his chance to celebrate a touchdown at Brumley Stadium.

"I've been dreaming of that since the first week of practice," Ellis said.